


Nosy Business

by sarahgirl1998



Category: Happy Tree Friends
Genre: Comedy, Cute, Female Sneezing, Friendship, Humor, Illnesses, Male & Female Sneezing, Male Sneezing, Nose blowing, Sick Character, Sickfic, Sneezing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2020-06-23 19:34:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19708021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarahgirl1998/pseuds/sarahgirl1998
Summary: Lumpy comes down with sinusitis, goes to the doctor for a diagnosis and gets taken care of by his friends.





	Nosy Business

It was a cool morning in the forest where the Happy Tree Friends lived. In one of the houses, Lumpy was in his bedroom, sleeping in his bed as he had been the night before. A few minutes after seven, he opened one of his eyes slowly, followed by the other eye. He sat up in his bed, rubbed his eyes with both of his hands, and then yawned into one of his hands.

But then, when Lumpy tried to take a breath through his nose, he couldn’t. The insides of his nasal passages felt blocked up. Not only that, he felt like there was a pain in his head. When Lumpy looked down at his nose, he saw that it had a bright red shade at the end. He must have come down with something.

Lumpy took a few more sniffs, but couldn’t clear his nose. He then raised his hand up to rub his nose with his forefinger, but that didn’t help, either.

“Ugh...” Lumpy groaned a little. “I think I could use a hot shower...”

Lumpy sat on the edge of his bed, and then got off. He walked out of the bedroom, then went into the bathroom and turned on the shower. He waited for the water to get hot enough, and then stepped in and pulled the curtains closed.

As Lumpy washed his body, he let the steam from the water flow into his nostrils. This had helped clear up his stuffy nose on more than one occasion. But today it wasn’t working. Lumpy took a few more sniffles, trying to keep any water from getting up his nose, but his nose quickly twitched before he broke into a sneeze fit.

“Aaah-tchoo! Ktchoo! Hchoo! Hah-choo!” The sneezes were short, yet painful. Lumpy rubbed his nose with his arm, but then sneezed again, wetly this time. “Hehhh-kishiuuu! Ugh...”

Lumpy rubbed his nose delicately with his forefinger, his expression a mix of sadness and discomfort. Why was his nose so stuffy? And why did every one of his sneezes have to hurt? Lumpy went back to washing himself, but the sneezes kept coming, making this part of his routine a bit tedious.

When Lumpy stepped out of the shower, he picked up a clean towel and started to dry himself off. As he was doing so, however, his nose twitched again. Another sneeze was on the way.

“Eh-hiih...” Lumpy inhaled, then mistakenly sneezed into his towel. “Shhuuu!”

Lumpy pulled his towel away from his nose and rubbed it with his forefinger. He’d have to wash the towel soon, but at least there wasn’t a visible sign he’d sneezed on it. He put the towel back where he got it, then grabbed a tissue and blew his nose loudly into it. But that didn’t clear his passages, either.

“Ugh, this isn’t working...” Lumpy said to himself in a congested voice. “Looks like it’s time for a trip to the doctor.”

After Lumpy had dried off, he left the bathroom and made his way into the living room. He picked up his car keys, opened the front door and headed outside. After he shut the door behind him, he unlocked his car and stepped into the driver’s seat. Lumpy fastened his seatbelt, placed his key in the slot, started the engine and drove away from his house.

As Lumpy headed into town, he kept sniffling, but his nose just wouldn’t let him breathe. He also sneezed a few times, but none of the sneezes were excessively messy apart from the saliva. But either way, Lumpy couldn’t wait to ask his doctor about what was wrong with him.

When Lumpy made it to the doctor’s office, he killed the engine and stepped out of his car. He rubbed his nose again as he opened one of the doors and stepped into the waiting room.

Lumpy then signed in and sat in one of the chairs. As he waited, however, he heard a few sniffles, followed by a loud sneeze.

“Haaaah-CHOOOOOOO!”

Lumpy looked to his left to see Toothy and Nutty in the waiting room as well. Nutty was rubbing his nose with his arm and sniffling repeatedly, while Toothy, the one who’d just sneezed, blew his nose and wiped it repeatedly with a tissue.

“You okay, guys?” Lumpy asked.

“No, I don’t feel so good,” said Toothy. “I haven’t stopped sneezing all morning.”

“Ugh...” Nutty sniffled again, still wiping his nose. “I think I’m getting a little bit of the sniffles.”

Toothy looked over at Lumpy, saw his red nose and gasped a little. “What’s wrong with you, Lumpy?”

“I got a stuffy nose,” said Lumpy. He sniffled again. “Oh, and I’m a little sneezy, too...” Suddenly he turned away from Toothy and sneezed again. “Hah-shoo!” Lumpy then turned back to Toothy and rubbed his nose with his forefinger. “Excuse me.”

“Oh, that’s too bad,” said Toothy. “Hope you feel better soon...”

“Hope you guys feel better, too,” Lumpy said, forefinger under nose.

Toothy smiled at him briefly, but then his nose and eyes twitched. He was about to sneeze again. “Ah... Ahhh...” He turned his head away from Lumpy, took a final inhale and sneezed again into his tissue. “AAAAAAAHHHHHHH-CHIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

“Bless you,” Lumpy said as Toothy rubbed his nose with his forefinger.

“Yeah, bless you,” Nutty said in agreement.

Toothy blew his nose again and wiped it once more. “Thank you.”

“Lumpy?” A female voice called. Lumpy turned to his left to see Lammy, the nurse, had opened the door. “Come in, please.”

Lumpy stood up and headed into the hall. As Lammy checked Lumpy’s weight and blood pressure, she noticed that Lumpy’s nose was quite red. She could tell he wasn’t feeling well.

“What’s the matter, Lumpy?” Lammy asked. “Have you caught a cold?”

“I don’t know,” Lumpy replied with a sniffle. “My nose is all stuffy. I think I need a tissue...”

Lammy smiled, reached into her pocket, pulled out a tissue and handed it to Lumpy - just as he sneezed into it.

“Ah-kchoo!” Lumpy then wiped his nose with the tissue. “Uh, whoops. Bless me.”

“Bless you indeed,” Lammy said with a giggle. Lumpy blew his nose and kept wiping. “But don’t worry, as soon as we get you into the examination room, your doctor will be on his way.”

“Thanks. Oh, and thanks for the tissue,” Lumpy replied with a smile.

After Lammy had finished her work, she led Lumpy into the examination room. As he sat on the examination table, Lammy handed him a box of tissues for when he needed to sneeze again.

“The doctor will be right with you,” said Lammy.

“Thanks,” Lumpy said as Lammy headed out of the room.

As Lumpy waited for his doctor, he rubbed his nose repeatedly, trying to get it to unclog. It didn’t, however, to his frustration. But eventually, the door opened and Sniffles, the doctor, came into the room.

“Hello, Lumpy,” he greeted Lumpy with a smile.

“Hello, Doctor Sniffles,” Lumpy replied. He sniffled loudly, his nostrils flaring up briefly.

“How are you doing?” Sniffles asked.

“I don’t feel so good,” said Lumpy. “My nose is all red and stuffy...”

Sniffles looked over at Lumpy’s nose, which was indeed still red. “Hmm, I see that...”

“We’ll have to perform a couple of tests to figure out what’s wrong,” said Sniffles.

“Okay.” Then, however, Lumpy’s nose started to twitch. He was going to sneeze. “Aaah, heh...”

Sensing his buildup, Sniffles pulled out a tissue from Lumpy’s tissue box and covered Lumpy’s nose with it, just as he released.

“Huuuh-shooo!”

Not long after Lumpy had finished his sneeze, he saw that Sniffles had covered it for him. He gratefully took the tissue and blew his nose into it.

“Gesundheit,” said Sniffles.

“Thanks,” Lumpy replied as he wiped his nose with the tissue.

When Lumpy finished wiping his nose and removed his tissue from his nose, Sniffles pulled out a tongue depressor.

“Open your mouth wide and say ah, Lumpy,” he said.

“Ah...” Lumpy opened his mouth and allowed Sniffles to look inside his throat. The anteater doctor could see a bit of redness beyond Lumpy’s mouth.

“Hmm, your throat looks a little sore,” Sniffles stated. “It doesn’t look too severe, however.”

Sniffles removed the tongue depressor from Lumpy’s mouth and put it aside. He then pulled out a blood pressure strap and wrapped it around Lumpy’s arm. He started squeezing the ball, causing the strap to inflate. Lumpy tried not to wince, but the sensation was a bit painful.

“On the plus side, your blood pressure is normal,” Sniffles said.

He let the air out of the strap and removed it from Lumpy’s arm. He put the blood pressure strap aside and pulled out an oral thermometer next. He inserted the tip of the thermometer underneath Lumpy’s tongue and they waited for it to take his temperature.

As he waited, Lumpy sniffled repeatedly and rubbed his nose. It was still feeling stuffed up, to his displeasure. But soon the thermometer had finished, and Sniffles pulled it out and took a look at it.

“A hundred and two point five,” said Sniffles. “You’re running a little fever, I’m afraid.”

“Oh...” Lumpy said. He rubbed his nose with his arm, but still couldn’t get it to unclog.

“But there’s just one more test left,” said Sniffles.

He reached to the side and pulled out a large bouquet of flowers, to Lumpy’s confusion. But before he could ask about them, Sniffles held the flowers under Lumpy’s red nose.

“Can you smell these, Lumpy?” Sniffles asked.

Lumpy sniffed three times, culminating in a deep, long nasal inhale. But he couldn’t smell the flowers’ sweet scent, although his nose had started to tickle intensely from the pollen.

“N-no.” Lumpy had just enough time to say that, but then inhaled and sneezed uncontrollably. “Aaaaah-CHOO!! AH-CHOO!! HAH-CHOO!! HTCHU, HEH-TCHOO!!! Hiiih-TISHOOOOOOO!!!”

Lumpy’s sneezes not only hurt his nose even more, but caused his nose to run a little. He rubbed his nose gently with his forefinger, even though his snout still tickled.

“My goodness!” said Sniffles in surprise. “Gesundheit, Lumpy.”

“Th-thadk you...” Lumpy trailed off before he was about to sneeze again. “Huh... Hiiih...!”

Knowing what was going to happen, Lumpy grabbed a couple of tissues from his box and covered his tickly nostrils with them. He could see Sniffles plugging his ears in anticipation, but he couldn’t focus on that.

“EHHHHH--“ With a final inhale, Lumpy released a final, particularly wet sneeze, blowing his nose into the tissues as he did so. “HTSHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!”

Mucus was leaking from Lumpy’s swollen nose after that final sneeze. The poor moose sniffled wetly as he rubbed and wiped his nostrils with the tissues.

“Gesundheit,” said Sniffles.

Lumpy threw out his used tissues, grabbed some more, held them to his nostrils with both hands and blew his nose loudly.

“Uugh.” Lumpy rubbed his nose with his forefinger. “Sorry, doc. You dow I‘b allergic to flowers...”

“I’m sorry, too,” said Sniffles. “Now, let’s see...” He tried to figure out what Lumpy’s illness was. “Fever, sore throat, stuffy nose, sneezes...”

“I think you have sinusitis, Lumpy.”

“Sidus-what dow?” Lumpy’s nose started to run again, a noticeable drop of mucus. To get rid of it, he pushed his tissue against his nostrils as he blew his nose again. His passages stopped running, but still felt blocked up.

“You have sinusitis. It’s a sinus infection,” corrected Sniffles. “People who have this illness have stuffy noses because their sinuses are inflamed.”

“No wodder I couldd’t sbell those flowers,” Lumpy commented with a loud sniffle.

“The best thing to do is get plenty of rest and drink lots of warm liquids,” said Sniffles. “But keep in mind, your nose won’t clear up even if you keep blowing your nose.”

“It wod’t?” Lumpy sounded a bit disappointed.

“But if it makes you feel better, you can keep blowing your nose,” Sniffles went on. “Just don’t expect it to be much help to your sinuses.”

“And before you leave, I’d like you to take this medicine.” Sniffles showed Lumpy a bottle of liquid medicine. “It’ll help cool your fever down.”

“Okay, thadk you.” Lumpy took the bottle and placed it in his pocket. Then he stood up from the examination table, rubbing his nose gently. He left his tissues on the table for the next person, assuming it would be either Nutty or Toothy.

“If it gets worse, give me a call and I’ll see what else I can do,” Sniffles finished. “Feel better, Lumpy.”

“Thadks.” Lumpy opened the door and walked out of the examination room.

As he walked through the hall, Lumpy felt another tickle in his nose. He took a single inhale, then stopped in front of a desk and released a painful double.

“Hiih... Tchoo! Htshiuu!”

“Bless you,” Lammy said as Lumpy rubbed his nose with his forefinger. Lammy had been doing some work at her desk - she was part time nurse and part time accountant at this facility - and had heard his sneezes.

“Excuse be,” said Lumpy in response. “Bay I have wud of your tissues before I side out?”

“Of course you may.” Lammy pulled a tissue out of her box close to her and handed it to Lumpy.

Lumpy blew his nose loudly, trying and failing to unclog his nose, then rubbed it with the tissue. “Thadk you.”

“Hope you feel better soon,” Lammy replied, causing Lumpy to smile.

When Lumpy made it back to the waiting room, he signed out and went out to his car. He stepped into the driver’s seat, fastened his seatbelt, placed his key in the slot, and started the engine. Before long, he’d driven away from the doctor’s office.

Lumpy’s drive home was filled with stuffy sniffles and the occasional groan. He was feeling simply miserable. When he finally got back to his house, he pulled into the driveway, killed the engine and stepped out of his car. He locked his car with his keys and headed toward his front door.

“Heh-tchoo!” Lumpy sneezed from the pollen in the air, but he was lucky that it was just one sneeze, not even enough to make his nose run. He opened the front door and went into his house, rubbing his ticklish nose with his forefinger.

“I thidk I deed by handkerchief,” said Lumpy.

Fortunately, Lumpy then remembered that both of his handkerchiefs - his white one and his light blue one - were in the dryer. He’d done his laundry the night before, having taken it out of the washer and tossed it into the dryer before going to bed.

Lumpy placed his car keys on the end table close to the door, then went over to his clothes dryer. To keep the amount of lint from getting too close to his nose, he looked away before he opened the door. Then he pulled out both of his hankies and closed the door. That being said, the dust from the lint still tickled his nose, and Lumpy had a brief buildup before another sneeze.

“Ah, ah, ah-choo!” Lumpy sneezed into his blue handkerchief, causing the edges to flutter in the air. Placing his white handkerchief in his pocket, Lumpy snorted lightly into the handkerchief and wiped his nose with it, holding it with one hand the whole time.

“I should take by bedicine,” said Lumpy. “That oughta help be feel better.”

He headed into the bathroom, still wiping his nose, and put away his hanky. He pulled out his bottle of medicine and read the instructions on how to take it. He opened the medicine cabinet and pulled out a small measuring cup that was meant to be for taking medicine. He opened up the bottle and poured the recommended dosage into the cup. When he’d gotten it to the right amount, Lumpy nervously held the cup in his hand and gulped down every little drop.

“UGH!” Lumpy coughed a bit and shook his head. He stuck out his tongue, looking disgusted. “Gyack!”

“Oh, my God...” said Lumpy to himself. The medicine tasted awful. He filled the little cup with cold water and drank it down to get the rest of the medicine that was still in the cup. He could still feel the taste in his mouth, however, so he helped himself to a larger glass of water until the aftertaste had subsided.

“That was... that was the worst,” Lumpy commented. He closed the lid of his medicine bottle, cleaned out his little measuring cup and put it back in the cabinet. “How cad sobethidg that should bake you feel better taste so bad...?”

He went out of the bathroom and headed into his bedroom. He crawled into his bed, got under the covers and lay his head upon the pillow. He stayed in bed for quite a few minutes, sniffling constantly. But no matter how hard he tried, his nose wouldn’t clear up. He pulled out his blue handkerchief and rubbed the sides of his nose with it, but it didn’t do anything to help. He just sneezed.

“Htchoo!” Lumpy doubled over as he sneezed into the handkerchief, then blew his nose lightly again and wiped his nose with it. “Ugh... Scuse be.”

He turned to his pillow and lightly pressed his hand against it, trying to fluff it up. He then lay back down and closed his eyes, trying to take a nap.

The only problem was that he couldn’t, not with his stuffy nose.

Lumpy turned over a few times, trying to find a comfortable spot, but he couldn’t find one. He kept his eyes closed as he raised his hanky to the end of his snout. He exhaled through his nose repeatedly, trying to blow his nose, but it was still congested.

“Ugh...” Lumpy groaned and sniffled twice. “Why wod’t you let be breathe?”

As if responding to his question, Lumpy’s nostrils tickled and flared up. Without warning, he sneezed into his hanky.

“Ah-tchoo!” The tickle in his nose not satisfied, Lumpy gave another sneeze. “Heh-chuu!” Followed by another. “Eh-shoo!”

Lumpy opened his eyes, blew his nose gently again and wiped it with his handkerchief. Seeing his box of tissues still on his end table, he grabbed a tissue, pressed it against his nose with both hands and blew harder than before.

Although Lumpy knew tissues and handkerchiefs were the best solutions when he needed to blow or wipe his stuffy or runny nose, he preferred hankies for gentle nose blowing. If he really, really needed to blow his nose - as in, as hard as he could - he would use a tissue for that. But it was no use, his nose wouldn’t unclog.

Lumpy sighed as he wiped his nose with the tissue. (He would wipe his nose with both tissues and hankies, by the way; he liked having something upon which to wipe his nose after a good sneeze or several.) He wasn’t feeling so good at all. He was simply miserable.

“I have a feelidg Sdiffles gave be the wrodg bedicide...” Lumpy thought.

“Ehhh... Heeeeh-shuuuuu!” Lumpy sneezed again, this time into the tissue he’d just blown into. “Uuugh...”

Lumpy put his tissue aside, pulled out another one and blew his nose loudly again. He then wiped his nose, put this tissue aside as well, and then began wiping his nose with his blue handkerchief. What would it take to make him feel better?

Unbeknownst to Lumpy, his friend Cuddles was walking outside with Giggles and Petunia. The three of them had decided to stop by Lumpy’s house for a visit. They went up to the front door of Lumpy’s house, and Cuddles rang the doorbell.

“I hope Lumpy doesn’t mind us coming over,” Giggles stated.

“Me, neither,” Petunia replied.

“I don’t think he will, girls,” Cuddles reassured them. “Besides, we’re his friends.”

Suddenly they heard a slightly audible sneeze from inside. “Haaaah... Shoooo!”

The front door opened and Lumpy stood, sniffling and wiping his red nose with his hanky that he'd brought with him.

“Oh, bless you, Lumpy,” Giggles said.

“Thadks,” Lumpy replied. He blew his nose a little with his hanky and kept wiping his nose.

“Are you feeling alright?” Petunia wanted to know.

“You don’t sound so good,” said Cuddles.

Lumpy gave another sniffle and removed his handkerchief from his nose, allowing his friends to see his reddened, stuffed-up nose. “I have a sidusitis,” said Lumpy.

“A what?” Giggles asked.

“I think he has a sinus infection,” Petunia stated in concern.

Giggles immediately sulked and spoke with a sympathetic voice. “Aw, you poor thing. You must be miserable.”

“Yeah, I ab.” Lumpy nodded in agreement. Suddenly he needed to sneeze again, so he held his handkerchief over his nose. “Ah, ah... Chooo!”

“Looks like you could use some help,” Cuddles said as Lumpy wiped his nose.

Suddenly Petunia came up with an idea.

“I don’t know about you, but I think we should all stay and take care of Lumpy until he feels better,” said Petunia.

“That’s a great idea!” Giggles responded. Then she turned to look at Lumpy. “What do you think, Lumpy?”

Lumpy thought about this, and then smiled and nodded.

“That soudds like exactly what I deed,” said Lumpy. He moved out of the way so his friends could come inside. Cuddles and Giggles entered first, but before Petunia stepped in, she told Lumpy one last thing.

“But please, PLEASE don’t do anything that could get us sick,” Petunia warned, sounding a bit nervous. “I hate germs...!”

“I dow you do,” Lumpy said. “But I’ll try dot to idfect you, or Giggles or Cuddles. I probise.”

It was only after he said that that Petunia could come inside.

Lumpy was sitting on the couch, both of his feet submerged in a bucket of warm water. His body was wrapped with warm blankets, and there were a couple of fluffy pillows behind his head to make him feel more comfortable. A box of tissues was sitting by his side, close enough for him to reach. Cuddles was in the kitchen boiling some soup for Lumpy, while Giggles and Petunia were both in the living room with Lumpy. The girls were going to make Lumpy as comfortable as they could.

Lumpy took a deep inhale and sighed as Giggles poured some extra warm water in the bucket, to distract him from the water that had just started to cool. The warmth felt great on his feet and toes.

“This is really dice...” Lumpy commented.

“Are you feeling any better, Lumpy?” Giggles asked.

Lumpy sniffled in response. “Dot really, but I’b gettidg there.” Another sniffle. “But by dose is still really stuffy.”

“Don’t worry, Lumpy, I know what’ll fix that.” Petunia reached into her pocket and pulled out a jar of chest rub.

Lumpy smiled and removed some of the blankets from his upper body to reveal his chest. He sniffled once more as Petunia sat down next to him and removed the lid on the chest rub.

“This always helps me feel better when I have a stuffy nose,” Petunia stated. “Not that I’ve ever admitted it...”

Lumpy chuckled lightly at her side comment and sniffled again. Petunia reached into the jar, collected a bit of chest rub and started rubbing it onto Lumpy’s chest. After almost a minute, she pulled her hand away from his chest and closed the lid on the chest rub. Lumpy could feel his nose clearing, just enough to smell the sweet scent of menthol, and he couldn’t help but smile.

“Hey, this smells pretty good.” But just after he said that, Lumpy tilted his neck back as he was about to sneeze. The smell of menthol must have been a little too strong for him to take. “Ah... Heh... Hah--”

“Tchew!” When Lumpy released the sneeze, he could feel a tissue being pressed against his nose. When he recovered from the sneeze and opened his eyes, he saw that Giggles had covered his sneeze for him.

“Bless you,” Giggles said as she handed him the tissue.

Lumpy looked at her sheepishly as he wiped his nose with the tissue. “Thanks.”

Petunia put down her chest rub and headed into the kitchen as Lumpy blew his nose. Cuddles was still making Lumpy’s soup when he heard the faucet being turned as well as water flowing. When he turned to the side, he saw Petunia washing her hands.

“How’s Lumpy doing?” Cuddles wanted to know.

“I gave him some chest rub, and it looks like it’s working so far.” Petunia turned off the water and wiped her hands with a towel. “Is the soup almost ready?”

“Yeah, almost.”

Then Petunia got an idea and smiled. “I think I know what else will make Lumpy feel better,” she said to Cuddles.

“Like what?” said Cuddles.

Petunia whispered something to Cuddles, causing him to smile.

“Wow, sounds like a great idea!” Cuddles said. “But how about you work on it now while I bring Lumpy his soup?”

“That’s what I wanted to do,” said Petunia.

She opened one of the cupboards and pulled out a little box that she brought over to the stove. On the other hand, Cuddles poured some of the soup into a bowl, which he then placed on a tray that he brought out of the kitchen.

Lumpy was still wiping his nose with a tissue when Cuddles came in with the tray that held the soup.

“Here, Lumpy, this oughta make you feel better,” said Cuddles.

Lumpy smiled, put down his tissue and allowed Cuddles to give him the tray. He placed it right on Lumpy’s lap, and Lumpy picked up the spoon that was in the bowl as well and began to eat.

From the first spoonful, Lumpy was impressed. It was the flavor he enjoyed most, its warmth soothed his sore throat... overall, it was simply delicious. Lumpy took his time eating the soup to make it last, and he was glad he did so.

“If it weren’t for Petunia’s chest rub, I wouldn’t have tasted as much of this delicious soup,” Lumpy told Cuddles sometime before he finished. Finally he gave the tray back to Cuddles. “Thanks, Cuddles.”

“No problem, Lumpy,” Cuddles replied with a smile. “By the way, Petunia is making a little something for you...”

“She is?” Lumpy was almost excited, but snapped out of his thoughts in favor of another sneeze. He managed to cover it with a tissue. “Hah-chiu! ...Excuse me.” Lumpy wiped his nose cutely with his tissue as he sniffled a few times.

“Yeah, it’ll be ready soon. And bless ya,” said Cuddles. He went back into the kitchen as Lumpy continued to wipe his nose.

After a few minutes, Petunia came out from the kitchen and walked over to Lumpy. She was holding something behind her back.

“Lumpy? I have a little surprise for you,” said Petunia.

“What is it?” Lumpy asked.

Without responding, Petunia showed him what she had been holding. It was a mug of steaming tea. Lumpy smiled as he took it from her.

“Thank you, Petunia,” said Lumpy.

He blew on the mug a bit to cool it down, and then took a sip. The taste of the tea was wonderful. If his nose had started clogging up again, the tea prevented that from happening. His throat started feeling better as well.

Before less than two minutes had gone by, Lumpy was already finished with his tea. He sighed in contentment, gave the mug back to Petunia and wiped the extra tea off his mouth with his arm.

“Petunia, thank you so much for making me that,” said Lumpy.

“I knew it’d help you feel better,” Petunia replied with a smile.

Giggles placed her hand on Lumpy’s forehead.

“Your fever’s going down. Thank goodness,” she said.

Lumpy smiled at her comment, but then sneezed again, putting his handkerchief over his nose. It was his white one this time. “Ah-tchuu!”

“Bless you,” Petunia said. Giggles said the same thing not long after.

“Thank you,” Lumpy replied as he rubbed his nose with his forefinger. Then he wiped his nose gently with his hanky. “And thank you so much for all the care you gave me while I was sick.”

“You’re welcome, Lumpy,” said Giggles.

“And Cuddles?” Lumpy turned to Cuddles. “Again, thank you so much for the soup.”

“No problem, buddy,” Cuddles replied.

“And if you ever come down with something again, all you have to do is call one of us,” Petunia said, “and we’ll come over to take care of you.”

Lumpy smiled at her reassurance, and then yawned into his hand.

“Hey, what time is it?” Lumpy wanted to know. “I think I need to lay down...”

Petunia checked the time. It was about 6:30 PM, and the sun had gone down. The sky was changing from light blue to an orangish shade.

“In that case, we’ll go home and let you get the rest you deserve,” Giggles said.

“Hope you feel better soon,” Cuddles said.

“Me too,” Petunia said.

Lumpy smiled at them and stood up, removing his blankets and pulling his feet out of the bucket of water as he did so.

“Thanks, guys,” Lumpy said.

He walked over to the staircase, then waved goodbye to his friends. They all waved to him as well. As Lumpy went up the stairs, Cuddles, Giggles and Petunia cleaned their things up and left Lumpy’s house.

When Lumpy made it upstairs, he went into the bathroom where he took a warm shower and brushed his teeth. He then went into his bedroom, changed into his pajamas and crawled underneath the covers. He lay in his bed, feeling very comfortable and feeling much better. What remained of his sinusitis was little more than a mildly stuffy nose.

“Hmm...” Lumpy thought for a moment, and then got an idea. “I think I’ll tickle my nose and make myself sneeze before I go to bed. A few extra ah-choo’s can’t hurt, right?”

Lumpy turned to his pillow and pressed his hands against it a few times. It took him a few tries, but a single feather emerged from the pillow and floated up into the air. As it floated down to him, he grabbed it before it could reach his nose. With a brief sniffle, Lumpy tickled his nose, wiggling the feather up and down the end of his snout.

“Hehehe!” Lumpy giggled to himself from how much it tickled.

But after a few seconds, his nostrils began to flare up. His snout began to twitch. Knowing what was going to happen, Lumpy inserted the tip of his feather into his nostril, amplifying the tickle. He felt a sneeze coming on.

“Ehhhhh... Heeeeehhhhhh...” Lumpy inhaled breathily as he tilted his upper body further and further back. This was going to be a big one. “HUUUUUUUUUH...”

“HEEEEEEHHHHHH-TSHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!”

Lumpy sneezed massively, blowing the feather right out of his nose and onto the floor. But the tickle in Lumpy’s nose was still strong, so he sneezed again, and again.

“HAH-CHOO, HTCHOO, AH-CHOO!!!” Compared to his sneezes from earlier in the day, these sneezes felt much better and much less painful. “TCHU!!! HEH-CHHHUUU!! Eh-heh... Tshew!”

“Aaaah-chew!” Lumpy sneezed into his left hand, then turned to sneeze into his right hand. “Haaaah-ah-chew!”

“Ah... Ahhhh... Haaaaaah...” Lumpy inhaled, preparing himself for a final sneeze, and then sneezed into both of his hands. “Ah-choo!”

Lumpy pulled his hands away from his mouth, and rubbed his nose with his forefinger. He sniffled and sighed with relief. His sneezes felt simply great.

“Whoa... Excuse me!” Lumpy said to himself.

He grabbed a tissue from his tissue box and blew his nose vigorously into it, holding it with both hands. He then threw it in the trash bin that was close to his desk. His nose still a little stuffy, Lumpy pulled out both his blue and his white handkerchiefs. He blew his nose lightly into his blue handkerchief, holding it with one hand, then wiped it as gently as he could. Then he put it in his pocket, but kept his white hanky out.

Lumpy reached over and switched off the light next to him, filling his room with darkness. Lumpy lay his head on the pillow, his white handkerchief in his hands, and before long, his eyes fell closed.

Lumpy’s nose was still stuffed up, but he had a much easier time breathing through it. Sometimes he had to sneeze while he was sleeping, but he covered his nose with his handkerchief and often blew into it afterwards. At least he wouldn’t have to worry about it getting dusty overnight.

The next morning, when the sun came up from the horizon, Lumpy was still sleeping with his handkerchief in his hands. Not long after sunrise, however, his eyes slowly opened. He sat up in bed and gave a deep yawn into his hand, then rubbed his eyes with both hands.

He sat on the edge of his bed, picked up his hanky, then stepped out and went over to his window. He pulled back the curtains and opened the window before he took a look outside. It was a beautiful morning, with only a few white clouds in the sky.

Lumpy took a few sniffs, culminating in a huge nasal inhale. His nose was no longer stuffed up; he could smell the fresh air and sweet scent of the flowers. And the pain that had been present in his throat and forehead yesterday had gone.

Lumpy no longer had sinusitis.

That being said, Lumpy grew a pre-sneeze face, then sneezed into his handkerchief, held by both hands. “Hah-choo!”

Lumpy then smiled as he rubbed his nose with his forefinger. He knew his sneeze wasn’t from being sick, but from the flowers. Lumpy blew his nose lightly into his handkerchief, then wiped it gently before he put it in his pocket. He took off his pajamas and lay them on the bed, then walked out of his bedroom.

That morning Lumpy took a shower, brushed his teeth and put on some odorless deodorant. When he left the bathroom afterwards, he put his pajamas in the laundry hamper along with both of his used handkerchiefs. Neither of them had noticeable stains, but Lumpy believed that a clean, soft hanky was the best kind.

Lumpy opened the front door, stepped outside and closed it behind him. He went out onto his front door, stretching his arms up in the air.

“It sure feels good to breathe again,” Lumpy said. “Gosh, Cuddles and the girls really helped me out. I think I’ll visit them and give them a thank you present!”

Lumpy walked out of his front yard and away from his house. He admired all of the chirping birds flying in the air, the pretty flowers growing in the ground, the butterflies hovering from flower to flower. The last two even gave him an idea on what to give his friends.

When Lumpy made it to Cuddles’ house, Lumpy picked a bunch of blooming pink flowers from the ground. He then went up to the front door and rang the doorbell, then waited. But before the door opened, Lumpy heard someone inhaling, then sneezing.

“Ah... Haaah... HAH-- Ah-choooooo!!”

The door opened, and there stood Cuddles, rubbing his nose with his forefinger. He’d just sneezed.

“Hi, Cuddles!” Lumpy greeted him. “And bless you.”

“Thadks,” Cuddles said with a loud sniffle and some more nose-rubbing. Lumpy noticed that Cuddles’ nose had turned a bright red.

“Cuddles? Are you feeling alright?” Lumpy asked.

“No...” Cuddles replied. “I dod’t feel so good...”

Lumpy looked at him in disbelief, but then sulked in sadness.

“Oh, no... you must’ve caught my sinus infection,” said Lumpy. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright, I’ll feel better.” Cuddles sniffled again.

“If it helps, I brought you flowers,” Lumpy said. “It’s a thank you gift for everything you did for me yesterday. Wanna smell them?”

Cuddles took a few sniffs of the flowers, but couldn’t smell them. The pollen, however, made him sneeze again.

“Haaaah-shooooooooo!! Ugh...”

“Bless you, Cuddles,” said Lumpy as Cuddles rubbed his nose again with his forefinger.

“Ugh, thadks,” said Cuddles. “Hey, do you have a tissue or sobethidg? By dose is really stuffy.”

“I’ll come inside and bring you some,” Lumpy reassured him. “But then you should sit down on the couch so I can take care of you.”

Cuddles moved out of the way and let Lumpy come inside. Lumpy went in and placed his flowers on a nearby vase for Cuddles. He then went into the bathroom, retrieved a brand new box of tissues and headed into the living room.

“Okay, Cuddles, here’s your tissues,” Lumpy said.

But when he got there, he winced in surprise. Not only was Cuddles on the couch, but Giggles and Petunia were there, too. Their noses were a bright red shade, their feet were in buckets of warm water, and they were wrapped in blankets; Giggles had a magenta one and Petunia had a dark purple one, while Cuddles had a light blue blanket. Not only that, Giggles already had a box of tissues between her and Petunia.

“Ah... Hah-chew!” Giggles sneezed, then rubbed her nose with her forefinger. “Excuse be...”

“Aaah-shyew!” Petunia also sneezed, covering her nose with a lavender-colored handkerchief, and then blew and wiped her nose with it. “Ugh...”

“What’s wrong with you kids?” Lumpy asked.

“I dod’t... feel well...” Petunia blew her nose again for a split second.

“I thidk I have a sidus idfectiod,” Giggles stated. She took a tissue and blew her nose twice, but couldn’t clear her nose.

“As you cad see, Lubpy, we’ve all got your sidusitis,” Cuddles said. “Dode of us are feelidg too good...”

Lumpy gasped when he heard that. “Oh, my gosh! I am so, SO sorry, guys!” he apologized. “I tried to be careful, I really did!”

“I udderstadd,” Giggles said.

“So do I,” Petunia agreed. “If there’s wud thidg I have to give you credit for, Lumpy...” She sniffled. “...you at least didd’t sdeeze od ady of us.”

“Ad sidce we took care of you,” Cuddles added, “I thidk it’s tibe you did sobethidg for us.“

“Yeah,” Lumpy said. “And I know exactly what it is.” He handed his box of tissues to Cuddles. “I have to take care of all of you, don’t I?”

“Yep.” Cuddles nodded, then sneezed again. “Haaaah-chooooooo!” He took a tissue from the box Lumpy gave him and blew his nose into it.

“Bless you...” Giggles said as Cuddles wiped his nose. But not long afterward, she sneezed again, this time covering her mouth with a tissue. “Aaah-shew!”

Cuddles sniffled as Giggles wiped her nose delicately. “Bless you, too.”

“Lubpy? If you dod’t bide...” Petunia sniffled. “Would you please bake be sobe tea?“

“Sure, of course,” Lumpy said. “I’ll get it ready soon. Do you guys want anything else?”

“I’d like sobe carrot soup, please,” Cuddles stated.

“Be too,” Giggles agreed. “I’d rather have sobe chicked soup, though, if that’s alright.”

“Okay, then,” Lumpy nodded in understanding. Before he left, however, Petunia suddenly sneezed three times.

“Haaah-shiooo! Tchew! Htshyew!” Petunia pulled out a tissue and blew her nose loudly into it. Then she sniffled repeatedly as she wiped her nose.

“And bless you, Petunia,” said Lumpy.

“Thadk you,” Petunia said as she kept wiping her nose. Giggles placed her hand on Petunia’s neck in sympathy.

“I’b afraid Petunia has a fever of a huddred ad four,” said Giggles. “Eved worse thad be ad Cuddles.”

“What’s your fevers at?” Lumpy asked.

“Bide is a huddred ad wud, ad the last tibe I took Cuddles’ tebperature, it was about a huddred ad wud poidt five,” Giggles explained.

“Don’t worry, guys, I’ll make you all as comfortable as possible,” Lumpy said with a smile.

And so he went into the kitchen to fulfill his friends’ requests. After a few minutes had gone by, he went back into the living room and handed Cuddles and Giggles’ bowls of soup to them. Then Lumpy briefly returned to the kitchen and handed a mug of tea to Petunia. He stayed by their sides, watching them eat.

“Ah-haaaah... Shyiuuuu!” Petunia sneezed into a tissue, which she blew her nose into immediately afterward.

“Bless you,” Lumpy said as Petunia wiped her nose.

Not long after Petunia had thanked him, Giggles’ nose twitched as she had to sneeze as well. Lumpy gently took her unfinished soup from her, put it on the table and backed away, covering his face in fear. He was afraid she would sneeze on him, but instead...

“Ah... Aaaah... Haaaah-choo!” Giggles covered her mouth with both hands when she released the sneeze. She then rubbed her nose a little with her forefinger, sniffling as she pulled out a tissue.

“Bless you, Giggles,” said Lumpy.

Giggles blew her nose and wiped it with her tissue. “Thadk you.”

Now that she was done with her sneeze and her tissue, Lumpy picked up her soup and handed it back to her.

“Lubpy, bay I have sobe bore tea?” Petunia then asked.

Lumpy retrieved the teapot from the kitchen and refilled her mug. Just after he was done, however, Petunia inhaled and sneezed again into her handkerchief.

“Aaaah... Chewww!!!”

“Bless you,” said Lumpy and Giggles as Petunia wiped her nose with her handkerchief.

“Thadk you.” Not long after Petunia had finished, she went back to drinking her tea.

Lumpy put the teapot back on the stove and sighed. He didn’t really like the idea of taking care of his friends, but he simply couldn’t complain. They helped him when he was sick, and now he was helping them while they were sick. It was hard work, but soon they would feel better, just like Lumpy.

As they say, one good turn deserves another, and tender loving care is really the best medicine.


End file.
